Blissful Heartache
by iloveromance
Summary: While waiting to get married at a Seattle courthouse, Niles and Daphne run into Donny; but their tense meeting threatens Daphne's blissfulness when feelings of remorse and guilt overcome her leaving her to wonder if she'll ever truly be happy. An AU version of Niles and Daphne's courtroom wedding in "Ring Cycle"
1. Chapter 1

Daphne and Niles leaned against each other as they sat on a bench inside the King County courthouse. Their fingers entwined, Niles squeezed his wife's hand and smiled.

"Remember how excited we were at our first wedding?"

"Yeah, we were both shaking." Daphne laughed.

"And here we are doing it again." Niles replied.

Noticing the slight irritation in her husband's voice, Daphne turned to him and touched his shoulder.

"I know this is a pain but you know how Mum is. She'll never be satisfied unless we get married the proper way. But I love you so much for agreeing to do this."

"And I love you, Daphne."

She drew him close for a kiss; her fingertips brushing his cheek. The touch of his lips on hers made her sigh.

"Is it just me, or do your kisses seem sweeter now that we're married?"

Niles smiled at the compliment. "There's plenty more where that came from."

And to prove his point, he kissed her even more tenderly than before.

Suddenly the door opened, startling them apart.

"Miss Moon? Dr. Crane? The judge will be ready for you in just a few minutes."

Niles and Daphne rose from the bench and joined hands, preparing to walk into the courtroom.

At the door, Niles paused and turned to Daphne. "Well... I guess this is it."

"I suppose it is." Daphne said. She couldn't help but laugh at the thought. "I'm a little nervous, isn't that silly? I think I'm even more nervous than when we were in Reno!"

Niles opened his mouth to speak when they heard a familiar voice.

"Daphne? Is that you?"

Her heart raced when she spun around and found herself face to face with the man she'd once promised to share the rest of her life with.

"Donny? What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Donny chuckled.

"Oh... Well... Niles and I are getting married."

Donny's smile faded ever so slightly. "Congratulations. That's... wonderful! And it's actually a coincidence because Bridget and I are here filing for a marriage license."

Daphne's eyebrows rose and she smiled politely at the attractively dressed woman standing next to her former fiancé.

"It's nice to meet you." Niles said, extending his hand. "Congratulations, Donny."  
"I'm... happy for you Donny. Really." Daphne said; feeling her chest tighten.

An uncomfortable silence followed and she found herself wishing that she had just ignored Donny and joined their family in the courtroom.

Donny rubbed the back of his neck. "Boy this is kind of awkward, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is. I didn't mean to sound so shocked... before." Daphne said. "I'm just surprised to see you here... since this is where people get married and all. I mean after what happened at our-."

She stopped suddenly; horrified by what she was about to say.

"After you dumped me you mean?" Donny finished.

Daphne flinched at his words and she swallowed hard, aware of Niles' comforting hand on her back.

"Yes." She said; the word barely a whisper.

"Actually, it worked out perfectly because if you hadn't left me, I never would have met my ex-wife, who introduced me to Bridget." Donny said a bit too enthusiastically.

"So really I should be thanking you."

The harsh words made her flinch and suddenly she couldn't bring herself to look at her husband.

"Dr Crane? Miss Moon? They're ready for you."

Daphne sighed with relief, wanting to get the ceremony out of the way and start her life with her husband; forgetting all about Donny.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well..." Niles said, turning to Daphne. "I guess this is it."

They'd taken no more than two steps toward the courtroom when they heard;

"Hey listen, just so there are no hard feelings, would you mind if I sat in?"

Niles and Daphne exchanged perplexed looks and then both spoke at once.

"A-actually Donny that-."

"No, I guess not."

After a second's hesitation and a nod of approval from her husband, Daphne sighed deeply.

"All right."

They walked into the judge's chambers where they were joined by Frasier, Roz, Alice, Gertrude and Martin.

"What's he doing here?" Martin whispered a bit too loudly.

"Dad..."

The judge entered the room and smiled at the family.

"Let's get started shall we?"

They all took their places and the room grew quiet.

"We come here today to unite this man and this woman in marriage." The judge said.

"I understand that Daphne and Niles have composed vows that are especially significant to them. Niles?"

Niles took Daphne's hands and looked deeply into her eyes, preparing to pledge his love to her for the third time.

"Uh... I Niles Crane take you Daphne Moon to be my wife. I, I vow to you my... my fidelity and support, honor, respect... uh... honesty, protection, and... support. You are my comfort and joy and... oh shoot, there's one more..."

"One true love." Daphne finished, trying to keep the hurt from her voice.

How could he have forgotten the beautiful words they'd said to one another?

"One true love. That's right." Niles said; the relief evident on his face. "Okay, you go."

Daphne stared at her husband in disbelief. _"Okay you go?"_

"I, Daphne Moon, do... She looked around the room and then back at Niles. "I'm sorry, this is wrong. I can't stand here and rattle off a bunch of words that don't mean anything anymore! I can't go through with this!"

"YES! I knew it!"

Donny's outburst startled her and she turned to find him punching the air with his fist, the way Martin did when the Mariners scored a home run or the Seahawks scored a touchdown.

Donny pointed at Niles; almost accusingly. "Now you know what it's like to have the love of your life dump you at the alter!"

She could only stare at Donny in horror; the harsh reality cashing down on her.

Shame cloaked her throat and made it almost impossible to breathe but she forced herself to look at him.

"I'm... so sorry Donny." She said in a hoarse whisper.

"Yeah? Well, sorry isn't good enough!" He shot back. "And Niles, good luck trying to find someone better because she just ain't out there!"

Daphne should have smiled at the compliment, but instead the words cut through her like a knife. She could see Bridget's look of horror and could only give her a sympathetic glance.

But there was no mistaking who was at fault.

Hot, stinging tears filled her eyes and threatened to fall like a spring thunderstorm.

Determined not to let Donny see her cry, she ignored Niles' soothing hand on her shoulder and ran out of the courtroom; painfully aware of Niles' calling her name.


	3. Chapter 3

She'd barely reached the hallway when the tears began to spill onto her cheeks and she collapsed into sobs on the familiar bench. How could she have done something so horrible?

She loved Niles with all of her heart and if she'd only been honest with herself she would have professed her love to him long before she became engaged to Donny.

True she had no idea that Niles was in love with her until his brother blurted it out (God bless Frasier!), but she was psychic! She should have known how he felt about her years without anyone having to spell it out for her.

She was so deep in thought that she barely noticed the comforting hand that rubbed her neck.

But when she felt the softness of a kiss on her cheek, she turned to find the man she loved more than should have been possible brushing a lock of hair from her forehead.

"Oh my angel, I'm so sorry. I should have known it was a bad idea to have Donny present. What was I thinking?"

"This was wrong, Niles!" Daphne sobbed.

He sat down beside her and sighed.

"Well, I have to admit that one wedding would have been sufficient and a courtroom in downtown Seattle is hardly the place that I imagined marrying the woman I've loved my whole life, but-."

"I meant _us_, Niles! It never should have happened at all!"


	4. Chapter 4

He drew back and stared at her in stunned belief. And it was several seconds before he found his voice.

"Daphne, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that this whole thing was a mistake!"

He took a deep shuddering breath and the pain on his face was almost more than she could bear.

"B-but how can you even think that? Daphne, I love you and I waited so long to-." His voice broke, and the look in his eyes made her cry even harder.

"I-I'm sorry."

She expected him to walk away; to leave her sitting there alone, wondering why she'd ruined their marriage mere days after it began. After all, he had every right to.

"Daphne-."

"I should have known that you were in love with me, long before your brother told me!" She sobbed. "Instead, I let meself fall for an insensitive man and I broke your heart in the process. Then when you professed your love for me in the hotel room and said those beautiful words, I wanted so much to be with you and no one else for the rest of me life. Instead I went with my conscience and didn't want to risk breaking Donny's heart. And I broke yours instead. I thought I was going to be happy with him but then at the last minute I couldn't o through with it, and I ran back to you, breaking his heart. I just... never realized how much I'd hurt him. I'm a horrible person, Niles!"

He took her in his arms and held her, but she drew back. Brushing away a tear he turned her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"Please don't say that. You're far from horrible. You're the most wonderful person in the world. If you had really been in love with Donny, you'd have married him and not come back to me. I'd be a fool if I didn't say that I wasn't thrilled with your decision, but you knew in your heart who you really loved and that's the most important thing. So please don't ever think-."

"But he was so hurt and I told himself I'd never hurt anyone like that again! Like the way I'm hurting you now. I love you so much and I just ... when he lashed out at you like that, I-."

She began to sob again, prompting him to take her into his arms; holding her while she cried into his suit. And when she was calm, he moved his hand gently across her

tear-streaked cheek.

Finally she smiled.

"I love you, Niles."

In response, he kissed her deeply; the touch of his lips taking away all of her hurt anxiety and fear. And she knew that things would be all right.

"I love you, my angel."

Niles took her hand and smiled "I suppose we should get in there and finish getting married."

Daphne couldn't help but grin and she ran her hand through his hair.

"We're already married."

He laughed nervously. "Oh... You're right. Well... I think we at least owe Frasier and Dad an explanation... or better yet, the truth."

Daphne smiled and kissed his cheek. "You're right. We'll just have to tell them that we're already married... and deeply in love."


	5. Chapter 5

Daphne coaxed him off of the bench and wrapped her arms around him; wanting to hold him and never let go.

As they reached the courtroom, she stopped suddenly and cocked her head to the side.

"What's wrong?"

She led him away from the door and down the hallway, where faint strands of music drifted past them. Amazingly Niles recognized the song instantly. It was one of

Daphne's favorites; _Collide_ by singer Howie Day. And he had to admit that he'd heard it so often that he'd grown quite fond of it.

Smiling at his confused look, Daphne led Niles into a secluded corner and turned to face him. Wordlessly, she grasped his hand in hers and wrapped her free hand around his waist.

"Daphne, what are you doing?"

She sighed and leaned against him, slowly moving back and forth to the music.

"Dancing with me husband. My one true love." She explained, as she rested her head against his chest. As they danced in the hallway, she was sure that he could hear the thundering of her heart.

Immediately he drew her close; the musky scent of his cologne causing her to want to move even closer. She closed her eyes, allowing the beautiful love song to transport her into another world.

It was the most perfect moment she could imagine.


	6. Chapter 6

Holding a sleeping Alice in his arms, Frasier followed Roz, Gertrude and Martin down the hallway, looking at his producer in disbelief.

"Dear God, Roz, why didn't you tell us that Daphne and Niles had gotten married in Reno? It sure would have saved me a lot of grief! Donny threatened to sue me and all because of Daphne which is completely-where are Niles and Daphne anyway? You'd think that with all these ridiculous weddings, they'd want to start their honeymoon instead of spending all this time trying to please everyone. And yes, that means you, Gertrude!"

Daphne's mother looked at Frasier in disbelief.

"I beg your pardon?" She snapped. "How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice?"

"Well, if you hadn't been so... damned determined for them to be married the _proper_ way-."

"Oh and you didn't mind that they ran off to Reno and left you and Martin out of their wedding? Not to mention cheating Alice out of a chance to be a flower girl!" Roz said.

"Roz, really! I'm just saying that they're both adults and I can't believe they went along with this foolishness instead of starting their new life together! If I were Niles, I'd be celebrating my marriage instead of-."

He stopped suddenly when he heard the music drifting through the hallway.

"Fras, what's wrong?"

"I'm not sure..."

Frasier motioned for Gertrude, Roz and Martin to follow him, and he stopped once more when he saw Niles and Daphne dancing in the corner; their eyes on one another as though they were the only ones on earth. The sight was so beautiful it made Frasier's heart sing.

Martin smiled and patted his eldest son's shoulder, just as Niles and Daphne shared a tender, lingering kiss and leaned their foreheads together.

"It looks like they've already started celebrating."

**THE END**


End file.
